Sri Lanka Ministry of Health has taken steps to temporarily stop giving port clearance to imported milk products from New Zealand.An announcement issued by the Ministry of Health said the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala took this decision today. “The concern is the change in the whey protein concentration due to clostridium bacteria and the other concern is China completely banning the importation. So we followed them and temporarily suspended,” Dharma Wanninayake said.

The latest announcement by the New Zealand’s dairy giant Fonterra that its milk supply was contaminated with botulism bacteria has added to the Sri Lankan government’s earlier concern that the milk powder imported to the country contains traces of dicyandiamide (DCD), an agrochemical.

China, Vietnam and Russia have already banned the import of milk powder and whey protein from the New Zealand after the botulism scare.